According to China’s state-run Global Times, the country’s education ministry has ordered an investigation into children’s textbooks over row involving “ugly and pornographic” illustrations.
The controversy began after Chinese netizens complained the illustrations depicted sexual connotations and were not properly reviewed.
The focus of netizens was the maths textbooks which allegedly showed children in “strange poses” which included “crooked mouth, tongue sticking out and squinting eyes”, China’s newspaper reported.
The netizens wasted no time in blasting the illustrators.
chinese authorities set of primary school textbooks amid public outcry over improper illustrations. Angry parents criticize the droopy eyes and somewhat similar to men body part pic.twitter.com/4hcgakIDWX
— Want some peace on jianghu| 🍊🍑🐱 (@jianghumountain) May 28, 2022
In recent years, the illustrations in Chinese elementary school textbooks are very ugly and have no artistic sense. The Chinese suspect it was caused by enemy spies. The government has begun to pay attention to the matter. pic.twitter.com/nDG8yMQFND
— 蒋俊 (@Aaron9999_) May 29, 2022
The ministry said the people’s education press must “rectify and reform” as the publishers apologised and asked all textbooks to be recalled.
However, the issue continued as Chinese netizens further complained that photos allegedly showed boys not wearing pants and “explicitly depicted male reproductive organ” as they questioned the motive of the illustrator as the hashtag “math textbook from People’s Education Press” began trending on China’s Twitter-like social networking site Sina Weibo.
Chinese web users said the pictures were “irresponsible” and distorted the “aesthetic sense of young students”. Reports claimed the controversial textbooks were approved in 2012 and 2013.
The Global Times report said last year a Chinese food brand was criticised for using a model with slanted eyes which allegedly “smeared” the image of Chinese women.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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